Department of Water Resources
California Water News
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
July 13, 2009
5. Agencies, Programs, People –
Swimmer, 13, drowns at Bass Lake
Modesto Bee
Man drowns in Yuba
Grass Valley Union
Teen pulled from raging waters
Porterville Recorder
Officials recommend merger of San Bernardino area water agencies
Inland Valley Bulletin
Small town fears quakes from geothermal energy project
Sacramento Bee
Cal Water proposing rate hikes
Chico Enterprise-Record
VISTA: Water district contemplates rate hike
North County Times
Water district considers tax hike
Santa Clarita Signal
City asks you to water responsibly
Woodland Daily Democrat
Conejo park district gets water law exemption
Ventura County Star
Deadlock stalls levee repairs
Long Beach Press-Telegram
Stanislaus County fair brings rain forest to the valley
Los Banos Enterprise
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Swimmer, 13, drowns at Bass Lake
Modesto Bee-7/13/09
Authorities say a 13-year-old boy is dead after apparently drowning at Bass Lake.
The Madera County Sheriff's Department said a chaperone jumped in to save the boy, who went under while swimming at Recreation Point on Saturday. Both were pulled from the water, but the boy could not be resuscitated.
The woman was taken to a hospital in Fresno and is expected to recover. The boy was with a group of youths attending a retreat associated with Kings Boxing Club in Avenal, about 50 miles southwest of Fresno.
Officials did not name either victim.#
http://www.modbee.com/local/story/779853.html
Man drowns in Yuba
Grass Valley Union-7/12/09
A man drowned in the South Yuba River Saturday morning about a quarter of a mile from the Highway 49 crossing after his foot became trapped between rocks.
The death marks the fifth local drowning this season.#
http://www.theunion.com/article/20090712/WEBUPDATE/907129996/1053
Teen pulled from raging waters
Porterville Recorder-7/12/09
BY Alex K.W. Schultz
Local officials teamed to pull a teenager from raging waters Sunday near the Jaye Street bridge in Porterville.
Janet Medina, 19, and friend Ruby Ramirez, 18, said they decided to “take an adventure” over the weekend.
Medina said the two elected to go rafting down the Tule River in an inflatable raft. They started near the Main Street bridge.
When the girls approached the white-water rapids near the Jaye Street bridge, Medina said she began having second thoughts.
“We kept saying, ‘Life is a risk,’ and we just went for it,” she said.
The teenagers’ raft flipped over when it encountered the raging waters, Medina said. They were both wearing life jackets.
“I didn’t know it was so rocky,” Medina said. “We just thought we were going to go right through it.”
Medina, who managed to swim to safety, said she ran across the street to Villa Robles Apartments — where she and Ramirez live — and called the Porterville Police Department while her friend remained in the river.
PPD officials were the first on the scene, Sgt. Jake Castellow said. Castellow said he quickly called the Porterville Fire Department and Tulare County Sheriff’s Department Dive/Swiftwater Team.
Dive/Swiftwater Team Supervisor Jim Franks, a sergeant with the Sheriff’s Department, said he received the call around 4:30 p.m.
Franks said PFD officials already had a rope stretched across the river by the time he and his team arrived on the scene.
“They knew what we needed,” he said.
Franks and Mike Gray, a Sheriff’s Department deputy, slowly maneuvered across the river to Ramirez, who was seated in the river.
“Since she was in a safe position,” Franks said, “we didn’t have to push anything.”
Franks said he and Gray used a three-man shallow-river-crossing technique to pull Ramirez to safety. Ramirez was placed upstream while she was braced by the two rescuers, Franks said.
The two girls suffered only scrapes and bruises. They were able to walk home, Gray said.
“This ended great,” Castellow said. “The bottom line is we got her out alive.”#
http://www.recorderonline.com/news/raging-42208-waters-sunday.html
Officials recommend merger of San Bernardino area water agencies
Inland Valley Bulletin-7/11/09
By Andrew Edwards
Officials could decide Wednesday whether a water agency that deals H20 to local water providers will be able to absorb a smaller agency responsible for maintaining local groundwater supplies.
Proponents of the merger contend that a single agency could provide more efficient water management. But the top official of the water district that wants to remain independent replies that he expects the plan to hit local taxpayers in their wallets.
"The cost to to the community goes to over $5 million if the consolidation is approved," said Robert Neufeld, general manager of the San Bernardino Valley Water Conservation District.
The Conservation District is responsible for recharging local groundwater supplies with water flows from the Santa Ana River and Mill Creek.
The San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District is the agency whose officials are seeking to take over the responsibilities of the Conservation District. The Municipal Water District imports State Water Project supplies for sale to other East Valley water agencies.
The San Bernardino County Local Agency Formation Commission, also known as Lafco, is the government body responsible for deciding if the merger can go forward.
In a report prepared for Wednesday's Lafco meeting, the commission's staffers recommend that the two water district's become a single organization.
"Lafco staff maintains the position that a single agency charged with with water recharge will provide the most cost effective and efficient coordination of this service for the benefit of the basin and those who use the water sources therein," reads the report.
The report also states that a merger could lead to a cost savings for the public as a merger would lead to the elimination of the Conservation District's fees to pump groundwater.
But Neufeld bases his expectation that a merger will increase the burden on taxpayers on his view that an independent financial analysis overestimates the Conservation District's future revenues.
He said his agency's most significant source of income is mining revenue from firms that dig materials out of the Santa Ana River bed, and he expects mining activity to decline as the real estate and construction markets continue to slump.
Without anticipated mining revenue, Neufeld predicts that the Municipal Water District will turn to property tax hikes if the merger goes through.
Lafco's meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday at San Bernardino City Hall, 300 North D Street.#
Small town fears quakes from geothermal energy project
Sacramento Bee-7/13/09
By Jim Downing
Residents in this tiny Lake County community have complained for years about the earthquakes touched off by the geothermal energy projects that tap the vast reservoir of steam in the mountains behind their homes.
Now, with the federal government, Google and some of Silicon Valley's top venture capital firms committing millions to test a new way to mine clean energy from the earth here, the locals are finally getting some attention.
On a ridgetop above Anderson Springs, Bay Area startup AltaRock Energy Inc. is drilling a hole more than 2 miles deep. As soon as August, the company plans to inject high-pressure water to crack the solid, 500-degree Fahrenheit bedrock, creating an artificial reservoir of superheated water. The steam will then be used to drive electrical turbines.
If the test works, it could pave the way for essentially limitless exploitation of the heat energy in Earth's crust.
Today, geothermal power is generated by tapping natural veins of steam, which are rare. Anderson Springs sits on the shoulder of the world's largest tapped geothermal site, one of only two major sites in the nation.
The technique AltaRock is piloting would make it possible to develop geothermal power anywhere there's hot, solid rock within a few miles of Earth's surface. Such sites are common, meaning that the new technology would open up a power source big enough, in theory, to meet the nation's entire energy demand thousands of times over – all without producing the greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
In Anderson Springs, though, the project has homeowners worried that the regular quake activity they already contend with would get even worse. Over the past two decades, the region has experienced between 13 and 32 earthquakes each year greater than magnitude 3.0 – including six in the past two weeks – according to U.S. Geological Service data, as well as thousands of smaller quakes.
While these are relatively small quakes, they originate near the surface and can feel stronger than the numbers suggest.
There's little debate that the quakes are caused by the existing geothermal projects, as water is injected and withdrawn, causing rock to shift.
AltaRock says its test shouldn't trigger any quakes larger than magnitude 2.3, and that it has reliable ways to calm any stronger shaking.
Government and academic seismologists say the site is a good place for the trial because, after years of geothermal prospecting, the geology of the area is very well understood and the chances of inadvertently setting off movement on a large fault are remote.
Still, residents are looking for more assurances that the project won't exacerbate local seismic activity, and that if it does, the company will fix things. For starters, they'd like AltaRock to carry more than the $5 million in insurance that federal permitting agencies require.
"We're not against geothermal; we just want things done right," said Anderson Springs resident Meriel Medrano, who has tussled with geothermal developers since the 1970s, when drill mud fouled the community's water supply.
After years of agitation by Medrano and others, existing power plant owners in the past few years have begun to compensate Anderson Springs and the nearby community of Cobb. Roseville-based Northern California Power Agency contributes up to $30,000 annually to cover repairs. Energy giant Calpine pays $35,000 a year for community improvements at Anderson Springs, recently including a new foosball table and renovations to a wading pool at the local recreation center.
AltaRock has pledged to contribute $10,000 this year to the community mitigation fund. The company also is buying the town a $20,000 piece of equipment to monitor quakes.
Anderson Springs was founded in 1873 as a hot springs resort. Its 190 houses and cabins are still mainly getaways, with only about one-third occupied year-round.
Many families have handed down cabins through generations, making for a rich oral history of local seismic activity – which, by everyone's account, is stronger than it used to be.#
http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/2020638.html?mi_rss=Top%20Stories
Cal Water proposing rate hikes
Chico Enterprise-Record-7/11/09
By Heather Hacking
California Water Service has applied to raise water rates for Chico customers beginning in 2011, a process that takes 18 months for approval by the California Public Utilities Commission.
The increases would include 15.4 percent for 2011, another 6.7 percent in 2012 and 6.2 percent in 2013.
If approved, the average residential bill in 2011 would increase $7.19 a month for metered residents. Flat-rate customers with lot sizes from 6,001 to 10,000 square-feet would see a monthly increase of $6.99 in 2011.
Cal Water manager Mike Pembroke said the CPUC tends to grant rate increases smaller than requested. For example, in 2007 the first request was for a hike of 49 percent, effective in 2008. The CPUC granted a 33 percent increase.
The "big ticket item" currently in the works includes converting 4,700 flat-rate customers to meters, as required by law.
Pembroke explained that part of the rate increase includes an extensive budget for water conservation, with the district working to meet the state's goal of a 20 percent reduction per capita by 2020.
Already, the water service charges a tiered rate, with customers who use more water paying more per unit of water used.
The water manager said the company has increased its rebate program, featured on the Web site www.calwater.com, which offers rebates for efficient clothes washers and toilets.
The company also offers free efficient shower heads, kitchen aerators, bathroom faucet aerators, hose nozzles and toilet leak detection tablets through its Web site. Customers can order the items online and have them delivered to their homes.
Cal Water has begun a commercial water account audit program. Next year residential audits will be available.
With the majority of residential water use going to landscaping, Pembroke said small changes can make a big difference in water use.
The increases would fund planned and completed water systems projects including two new wells, a new storage tank, better security at water facilities, more water treatment, three miles of replacement water mains and the flat-rate to meter conversions.
The water service will hold workshops in the fall about the increases, and will send information in customers' bills.
Cal Water serves about 100,000 people, with 27,400 service connections.#
http://www.chicoer.com/advertise/ci_12815157?IADID=Search-www.chicoer.com-www.chicoer.com
VISTA: Water district contemplates rate hike
Tier structure would penalize heavy users
North County Times-7/12/09
By Craig Tenbroeck
The Vista Irrigation District is considering a tiered rate structure that would promote conservation by charging people a premium for water use that exceeds certain thresholds.
For now, customers pay a flat rate ---- $2.34 per unit ---- plus a service charge based on meter size.
Download an Excel spreadsheet to calculate your water rates under the new formula
The district's staff wants to boost the service fee by 23 percent and charge between $2.34 to $4.83 per unit of water, depending on the level of use.
For a typical customer using 20 units of water, the monthly bill would increase to $83.40 from $72.40. (Some are billed bimonthly.)
The board will hold a public hearing Wednesday. The changes, if approved, would take effect Sept. 1.
General Manager Roy Coox wrote in a letter to customers that a rate hike is necessary because of "circumstances beyond the district's control, such as the current water shortage driven by three consecutive years of drought."
Most water agencies in the county, including Vista, have already imposed mandatory conservation measures, such as limits on lawn sprinklers.
The Vista Irrigation District supplies water to Vista and parts of San Marcos, Escondido, Oceanside and unincorporated San Diego County.
Its local source, Lake Henshaw, is at 10 percent capacity, so the district has had to buy more expensive, imported water from the Colorado River and Northern California, Coox said.
As of July 7, more than two dozen customers had filed written protests against the rate increase.
"With many people taking pay cuts or losing jobs, it is even more imperative that our pocketbooks don't get impacted by more rate increases," one customer wrote.
"The district's customers should not have to pay for the district's shortsightedness. Period," another wrote.
The higher rates would boost revenue by $4 million this fiscal year, officials say.
If the rate hike isn't approved, the district projects a $2.5 million deficit.
Officials plan to spend $36.6 million, including $13 million for water and $3 million for infrastructure improvements.
The budget in fiscal 2008-09 was $33.8 million.#
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/07/12/news/coastal/vista/z1e2c81dc62b4d175882575ef0062f6aa.txt
Water district considers tax hike
Santa Clarita Signal-7/11/09
By Brian Charles
Castaic Lake Water Agency could be forced to raise property taxes so it can continue bringing water from the Sacramento Delta to Santa Clarita faucets.
Declining property values could for the move, said Valerie Pryor, administrative services manager for the agency.
“We did a preliminary estimate to adjust our portion of the property tax revenues to 5 percent of every $100 of home valuation,” Pryor said last week. The current tax rate is 4 percent of every $100 of home valuation.
For a $400,000 Santa Clarita Valley home, the annual tax bill for state water amounts to $160. If Castaic Lake Water adopts a 5-cent tax on each $100 of home valuation, the bill jumps to $200.
The 1-percent hike is still a preliminary estimate, Pryor said. “Until we receive the county’s assessment, we can’t be sure how much taxes could go up,” she said.
Pryor’s words came days after Castaic Lake Water received its $21 million water bill from the California Department of Water Resources, which oversees the State Water Project.
The State Water Project delivers water from the Sacramento Delta to thirsty Southern California communities, including those in the Santa Clarita Valley.
Castaic Lake Water Agency is a wholesaler that resells State Water Project water to four Santa Clarita Valley retailers. Those retailers, in turn, sell the water to residents.
State water makes up nearly 50 percent of the drinking water in the Santa Clarita Valley, said Dan Masnada, general manger for Castaic Lake Water.
Of the $21 million paid to the Department of Water Resources, nearly $16 million pays for the maintenance of the system, the energy plants along the route and the debt service to pay for the state water project, Pryor said.
“When the system was constructed between the 1960s and the 1980s, it was debt financed. We’re paying back part of the bond, and those payments don’t end until 2035,” she said.
Another $5 million pays to deliver the water, and the bulk of that cost pays for the energy consumption related to delivering the water to Southern California.
“Almost all the $5 million goes toward energy,” Pryor said.
News of the proposed tax rate increase rankled some Santa Clarita Valley residents.
Jimi Corona, a 40-year-old real estate agent from Canyon Country, said raising taxes tarnishes the allure of moving to Santa Clarita.
“There is still a desire to move to Santa Clarita, but everyone wants in at an entry-level price range. With very few choices in the housing market at that price, higher taxes don’t make anything easier.”
Allison Willis, a 46-year-old social worker from Castaic, likened the proposed increase in taxes to the increase in other utilities.
“I’m strongly against the tax and feel it’s similar to the utilities scandals in which the price of electricity skyrocketed,” she said.
Willis said the priority should shift from tax increases to how water utilities are using the allotted resources.
“The water authorities seem to feel we have plenty of water when we open a new development, especially the Newhall Ranch Project,” she said. “If there is insufficient water, then these developments shouldn’t be approved.”
With continuing calls for conservation by state and local water agencies, Willis wants to make sure the Santa Clarita Valley has enough water to maintain existing residences.
“I don’t want to turn my yard into a rock garden to provide water for thousands of more residents,” she added.#
http://www.the-signal.com/news/article/15491/
City asks you to water responsibly
Woodland Daily Democrat-7/13/09
July is Smart Irrigation Month. Most homeowners tend to overwater their lawn or waste water through inefficient practices, according to Joyce Jones, temporary water conservation coordinator.
Adopting water-savvy routines is essential to maintaining and extending our community's water supply, especially during peak use. The key to efficient outdoor irrigation is applying just enough water and only when necessary. Water-wise habits will conserve water and result in a healthier lawn and landscape. The Irrigation Association named July Smart Irrigation Month to provide tips about smart practices and new technology.
You only need to worry about your irrigation timer four times a year.
In the spring, turn your timer back on to water no more than 3 days a week when the weather warms up and the soil starts to dry out. These are perfect times to look over your irrigation system and fix broken sprinkler heads or other problems.
In the summer, once it starts getting really warm outside, you can turn up your watering a bit. Remember to turn off the sprinklers for 15 minutes halfway through your complete watering time to allow the soil to absorb the water and prevent water run-off. Best watering plan for our clay soil: water for ten minutes, wait ten minutes for the water to absorb into the soil, and then water for another ten minutes.
Early fall, as the weather cools down, you can adjust your timers to water less.
Late fall, when it starts raining, turn your timer off.
Public Works encourages all community members to help conserve water by participating in Smart Irrigation Month. During the month of July, take time to check your irrigation systems for leaks.
Also be sure your system is set to water in the early morning hours to conserve water (the hours between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. are the best for watering your lawn). For more information on Smart Irrigation Month, visit the website: www.smartirrigationmonth.org. You may also contact the Water Conservation Coordinator at (530) 406-5117 or waterconservation@cityofwoodland.org.#
http://www.dailydemocrat.com/ci_12824940?IADID=Search-www.dailydemocrat.com-www.dailydemocrat.com
Conejo park district gets water law exemption
Ventura County Star-7/12/09
By Rachel McGrath
The Conejo Recreation and Park District says it cannot comply with tough, new water conservation regulations in Thousand Oaks, and it has been excused from following the rules in some locations, officials say.
The district concedes that it violated the mandatory water conservation measures for weeks while waiting to find out if the city Department of Public Works would formally exempt it under the ordinance that took effect June 5.
On Friday, the city told the district it will be issued a waiver, after a reporter made inquiries to city and district officials.
“We sent a letter to public works a couple of weeks ago saying we can’t conform,” said Tom Hare, the parks and planning administrator for the district.
He said the ordinance doesn’t take into account “extraordinary situations” that occur in the care and maintenance of parks and sports fields.
Water conservation measures are being imposed throughout the region after years of drought and following a court decision limiting the amount of water pumped to Southern California.
New ordinances adopted this year in Thousand Oaks and Simi Valley limit water use through a number of steps, including a ban on using irrigation sprinklers from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., when evaporation is greatest.
A public outcry erupted in May after news reports that Simi Valley’s ordinance exempted public agencies, including the city itself. The Simi Valley City Council said it was unaware of the loophole, and it revised the ordinance to prohibit parks, schools and other public agencies from irrigating or watering between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
The Thousand Oaks ordinance does not exempt public agencies.
Hare said he filed an application June 17 requesting a waiver for the park district. Such exemptions may be approved by city Public Works Director Mark Watkins.
In an interview Thursday afternoon, Watkins said he had not made a decision on the district’s request.
On Friday, Hare said he had spoken with Watkins and was told that he would grant the waiver to allow the district to water new turf at Conejo Creek Park South, which was seeded three months ago, and at Northwood Park, and in other areas that have been refurbished.
Some county residents have questioned how water is being used since the two cities adopted the ordinances.
In Simi Valley, Larry Peterson, general manager of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District, said he believes the district is complying.
“It’s possible we are (watering in the day), but I believe we’re in general compliance with the ordinance,” Peterson said. “We intend to be in compliance and I believe that the exceptions are when we’re watering grass seed, testing systems and doing renovations.”
In Thousand Oaks at 1 p.m. Thursday, nine sprinklers cascaded water onto grass at Conejo Creek Park North in violation of the ordinance, which also limits watering duration to no more than 15 minutes per day per station with no excessive water flow or runoff permitted.
Despite the presence of park district personnel working at various locations in the park, the water continued to pour for more than 25 minutes as onlookers made their way around puddles.
“The (park district) should take more care,” said college student Steven Stanton, 21, of Thousand Oaks, who was walking his dog.
“I think they’re just being negligent and not paying enough attention to their own laws.”
“I’m surprised,” said Susan Holt, chairwoman of the park district’s board of directors, when a reporter asked about the daytime irrigation at Conejo Creek Park North.
Hare said workers were running the sprinklers because breaks in a section of the irrigation system had caused grass to become stressed, and watering had to be done without delay.
Watkins said no organization or individual is exempt from the mandatory conservation rules, though the city can grant exemptions at its discretion.
“There is a hardship waiver written into the ordinance and anyone has the right to come to us under that,” Watkins said. The district submitted the only request received so far, he said.#
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2009/jul/12/conejo-park-district-gets-water-law-exemption/
Deadlock stalls levee repairs
Long Beach Press-Telegram-7/11/09
Massive program cuts, state worker salary reductions and IOUs aren't the only consequences of California's budget stalemate. The deadlock is also preventing the state from selling bonds needed to fund initiatives that have already been approved by voters.
A case in point is Proposition 1E, passed overwhelmingly in November 2006, which provided $4 billion for Delta levee repairs and Central Valley flood control.
In normal times, the levee repair projects that 1E was written to finance wouldn't be scrambling for funding. But as an article July 3 in the Sacramento Bee pointed out, times are as unusual on the Delta levees as they are in the rest of the state.
New projects have stalled for lack of financing. Old projects, financed by private levee districts on the understanding that the state would reimburse half the costs, have had to wait five months longer than usual for reimbursements.
This may come as a surprise to those who recall the hoopla surrounding the state's sale of about $13 billion in infrastructure bonds last March and April. The bond sale reportedly allowed the state to restart about 7,000 infrastructure projects that had been frozen by the 2008 cash crunch - including making good on what was owed for completed Delta levee repairs. But new levee repair projects were all but shut out of that money.
That's very unfortunate. The levees don't just keep Delta farmland safe from flooding. They allow fresh water to flow south to cities and farms, and keep that water untainted by tidal salt water.
A Delta levee failure wouldn't just create floods. It could put the state's water system at risk. With experts questioning the levees' capacity to survive a major earthquake or flood, that catastrophe is far from unimaginable.
Hopefully, neither disaster will arrive before a budget deal is reached. Because funding the levee repairs that Proposition 1E called for will require a new bond sale - and that sale won't happen unless the Legislature produces a budget balanced with more than smoke and mirrors.
With California's credit rating flirting with junk status, there's no guarantee that even that budget deal will be enough to attract the bond buyers needed to make the levees whole. But one thing is certain: A bad budget will keep the levees teetering on the brink.#
Stanislaus County fair brings rain forest to the valley
Exhibit will have the look and the animals of tropics
Los Banos Enterprise-7/13/09
By Patty Guerra
As of last week, it rains in the rain forest.
That doesn't seem all that exciting, but standing on what used to be a concrete slab at the Stanislaus County Fairground, the thunder and the rain are pretty impressive.
Workers are erecting trees, creating rivers and building giant mushrooms for Rainforest Adventure, an interactive display set for this year's fair.
It's the second year designers Clay and Elaine Everett are working with the fair. The Turlock couple created a dinosaur exhibit last year that scored with its young audience.
During the run, fair spokeswoman Pennie Rorex said, some staffers were sitting around trying to figure out, "How do we top this?"
Eventually, they came up with the idea of a rain forest, which goes with the 2009 fair's recycling theme of "Renewable Fun."
Earlier this year, the Everetts went to work. And that started with sitting down.
"We did a lot of research on the Internet, and we watched a lot of movies on the rain forest," Elaine Everett said.
Then they created a scale model of what they had in mind and shared it with fair officials, who gave them an enthusiastic go-ahead.
Clay Everett, a theater lighting instructor at California State University, Stanislaus, said his goal is to surround attendees with an experience that's as authentic as possible. Hence the rain that will fall every few minutes, rather than a sound effect replicating a storm.
Waterfalls and alligators
"We wanted it to be very theatrical," Clay Everett said.
He brought in colleague Eric Broadwater, a set designer at CSU Stanislaus, to paint panels for the exterior of the 8,000-square-foot exhibit. The colorful, texturized waterfalls and tree cutouts will greet fairgoers as they approach.
Visitors will walk over a swinging bridge and through an alligator swamp. (This critter is fabricated, as is the recycled-tire "water" where he rests). Children and nervy adults can swoop into the exhibit via a slide that will go over a waterfall and a river. The water here is real, and the Everetts expect a number of children won't be able to resist stepping in. That is, if they're not put off by the lifelike giant ants.
The Everetts' 6-year-old son, Noble, is their test audience. "He tells people his job is to make sure everything is fun," Elaine Everett said.
As of now, there is more exposed pipe and canvas than rainforest. But as the days go by, each piece is coming together and the attraction is looking more exotic. Even the tables that will hold terrariums for the animals are designed to fit in with the landscape.
"We always come back to the kids," Clay Everett said. "We want to do everything we can to heighten their experience."
The exhibit, which will be included with the price of admission when the fair opens in a few weeks -- "20 days," Elaine Everrett said Friday -- will contain animals ranging from anacondas and alligator to parrots. They are provided by professional wranglers who will offer regular shows in the rainforest. (The seats will be mushroom stools and rocks, because you don't have auditorium seating in a forest).
"We really wanted to give people something they've never seen before," Elaine Everett said.#
http://www.losbanosenterprise.com/190/story/42091.html
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